Rescue Me
by tradiferis
Summary: [Abandoned.] Who rescues those that rescue us? For how long can our demons be left at bay before they consume us? Sequel to Torn Away.
1. Tonks, Pt I

**Rescue Me  
**tradiferis

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Harry Potter, and never will. I do, however, own this plot. Got it? Good. Oh, I also don't own the show _Rescue Me_, which I unabashedly stole the title and part of the summary of this story from. Denis Leary can sue me.

**Summary:** Who rescues those that rescue us? For how long can our demons be left at bay before they consume us? Sequel to _Torn Away_.

**A/n:** I really couldn't help myself. Here we go again…

**Tonks, Pt. I  
"Interlude"**

Auror Nymphadora Tonks-Waechter strode onto the crime scene with a noted mark of confidence in her step. Following in her wake was a fairly large German Shepard that was growling every so often at the people who stared at it.

"Calm down Damien," Tonks said to the slightly majestic canine, which came up to almost her five foot seven inch frame's waist. The dog stared at it's master before seemingly rolling it's eyes. Tonks chuckled slightly before coming up to a slightly hysterical man who was complaining loudly to a group of Magical Law Enforcement Squad flunkies.

"Auror Nymphadora Tonks-Waechter," Tonks said, announcing herself to the group, "What seems to be the problem here?"

"Mr. Bernard claims-" the Magical Law Enforcement Squad flunky started to say before he was interrupted.

"Claims! BULLOCKS!" the hysterical man, who was obviously Mr. Bernard, shouted, "My store was robbed Auror! I _demand_ that the Ministry do something about it!"

"Alright Mr. Bernard, just calm down," Tonks said to the man, who was seething, "Just le me talk to my counter-parts here and I'll see what I can do."

Tonks motioned for three of the five flunkies to come speak to her. Putting up a Security Bubble, she started to speak to the senior one.

"Alright, why was the Auror College called?" Tonks asked with a slight amount of exasperation, "This seems like a typical robbery, something you flunkies are more than trained to deal with."

"See that the thing, ma'am," the man said, "We tried to explain that to Mr. Bernard, but he would not calm down until we promised to get an Auror down here to check into 'possible Dark Magic.'"

Tonks sighed; this had been common since the Department of Magical Law Enforcement had been rearranged following the downfall of Voldemort. The new Minister of Magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, had seen how inattention to the Dark Arts had led to the missteps of the previous administration, and concluded that a group of people had to concentrate _specifically_ on the Dark Arts while another group concentrated solely on the mundane law breaking in Wizarding Britain.

Taking a cue from both his muggle and magical counter-parts in Britain and the Americas, Scrimgeour had ordered into creation the Auror College and the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, or MLES. He Auror College was essentially an outgrowth of the old Aurors, except they existed primarily for the purpose of combating Dark Magic. The Auror College was as notoriously as difficult to get into as the old Aurors.

The MLES, on the other hand, had much looser admittance standards as their day to day duties weren't as difficult. They had 'earned' their nickname of "flunkies" because most of them had failed out of the Auror College.

"So do you think that Mr. Bernard's store has been the victim of Dark Magic?" Tonks asked.

"No, I believe that he wasn't even robbed, ma'am," the flunky said, "I believe he just misplaced his things."

"Well, let's go see," Tonks said, giving Damien a stiff nudge because he had fallen asleep next to her.

"Mr. Bernard, can you tell me exactly what happened?" Tonks asked the burley man, who was still seething.

"Well Miss," the man said in a slightly condescending tone, causing Damien to growl, "As I tried to tell those fools, when I came into my shop this morning, eight snake charming rocks were missing."

Tonks' eyes slightly bulged. _Now_ she could see why the man had insisted on an Auror being present.

"I immediately called the Ministry," Bernard went on, "And - WHAT THE HELL IS THAT MUTT DOING!"

All eyes turned to the front of the store, where Damien was sniffing through an opened crate.

"He's investigating sir," Tonks said with a straight face, "Now, you were saying?"

Bernard was about to go on when a cavalcade of explosions went off, throwing Tonks to the ground. Looking up she saw Damien standing over Mr. Bernard, who wasn't moving. Looking at the store, though, she was shocked by what she saw hovering inside of it.

The Dark Mark.

Quickly sending an alert with her wand to the Auror College, she went over to where Damien was. Mr. Bernard was dead, as the missing half of his skull indicated. Damien appeared to be fine, save for the blood splattered on his coat.

"What the hell is going on?" Tonks asked the dog, which just shook it's head. Tonks sighed and got herself ready for a long day…

Tonks found herself in a MLES office, waiting to be questioned about what happened. The Auror College had concluded that no overtly Dark Magic was used, thus the case fell under MLES jurisdiction.

"I wonder how in the blue hell they arrived at that conclusion," Tonks wondered to herself as she scratched Damien's head, which was in her lap. Suddenly, the dog's ears perked up, and within seconds the door to the office had opened.

Tonks and Damien stood up, with Damien positioning himself between Tonks and the MLES officer that had walked in.

"Good day Auror Tonks," the man said, looking warily at Damien while shaking Tonks' hand, "I'm Officer Rory, the senior investigator on this case. If it's alright with you we need to ask you a few questions."

Tonks sighed, closing her eyes momentarily, before nodding her head. Why _else_ would she be here?

"After you reported to the scene, did you notice anything odd?"

"Yes, I would say so," Tonks replied, scratching the back of her blue-haired head, "_Eight_ snake charming rocks had been 'misplaced' by a store without the authorization to possess them and your squad was reporting nothing 'odd' was happening!"

"My agents didn't report that," Rory said, sounding like he didn't believe Tonks. Damien growled at the man while Tonks placed a calming hand on it's shoulders.

"I can assure you," Tonks repeated, "That Mr. Bernard reported that."

"Well I don't believe you, _Auror_," Rory said, while Tonks rolled her eyes in frustration. Of course this man had to be bringing in jurisdictional prejudices. Rory's comment had elicited a bare-tooth growl from Damien. This time, Tonks did nothing to calm the animal.

"What is _that_?" Rory asked, pointing at Damien.

"A gift from my husband," Tonks stated flatly, "Now can we put aside stupid office rivalries and try to figure out just what the hell happened today?"

"I'm afraid not Auror," Rory said with a crooked grin, "For the death of an frustrating old man is just the beginning."

Tonks' brain was flying at a million kilometers per second as she was trying to connect the dots of what Rory was saying.

"My master will soon be back," Rory laughed as Tonks finally figured out what was going on, "And with neither Potter or Dumbledore around, he will not be stopped!"

Tonks was about to grab her wand when a POP! was heard as Damien transformed from a German Shepard into a towering black blond-haired man.

"I am placing you under arrest for being in violation of Ministry Law 14-6," the man said as his wand shot off a quick succession of spell at Rory, who was caught defenseless, "You are also being remanded into the custody by Department of Mysteries Third Class Agent Ludwig Waechter, myself. Congratulations on the High Treason Rory."

Ludwig wrote a note on a piece of parchment on Rory's desk, before it disappeared with a spell. Tonks watched all of this with a slightly amused smile on her face. Ludwig then turned back to Tonks.

"Did you really need to kick me in my ribs, honey?" Ludwig asked Tonks, bending over and kissing his wife.

"Of course, you were asleep you lazy mutt," Tonks laughed. Suddenly, about eight Unspeakables came through the door.

"I trust you got my message?" Ludwig asked.

"Yes sir, we're all set," on of the Unspeakable said.

"Great," Ludwig said with a smile, before turning back to Tonks, "I believe we have dinner reservations at eight?"

Tonks laughed as she grabbed her husband's arm and he led them to the Ministry's Apparation point.

**End Chapter.**

**A/n:** Okay, I know I said that I wasn't going to do a sequel to _Torn Away_, but an idea popped into my head and this chapter wrote itself. I can actually say that I am glad to be writing in this story line again, as there are some things that I feel I could tie up better now, and I am going to have a LOT of fun doing so. Check out my profile for more places to get more information, and as always…PLEASE REVIEW!


	2. Tonks, Pt II

**Tonks, Pt. II  
"Megalomania"**

Tonks sighed as she sat down in the dining room of the house she and Ludwig had purchased after the defeat of Voldemort. Based off of both of their actions that led to the Dark Lord's downfall, they had both been compensated to a 'healthy degree.' Ludwig even more so due to his Order of Merlin, which carried a 500 galleon a month stipend from the Ministry. The young couple had decided to purchase a moderately sized house so they could continue to save their money so that one day they could afford a larger domain.

Looking at the wall opposite from her, Tonks looked at her wedding pictures. That was one of the happiest days of her life, and she knew that it was for Ludwig as well. She had never seen him so much at peace than she had on that day. Unfortunately, that also included the past year.

Just because Voldemort had fallen didn't mean that the Waechter's life got any more less hectic. In fact, it only seemed to become more so. The past few weeks of Ludwig being Tonks' 'guard dog' had been a blessing because it was the most continuous amount of time the couple had spent together since their honeymoon. It was also one of the few times in the past few months that she had seen him actually, truly, happy.

Now with the entire Ministry in upheaval due to the apparent corruption on the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, it seemed like life would only become more difficult for the two. She was already working longer hours herself because the entire MLES was put on an indefinite suspension of activities, and who knew what the Department of Mysteries was doing.

Tonks shook her head as she watched the _real_ Damien waltz into the room. The German Shepard had indeed been a gift from Ludwig on her birthday in order to keep her company when he was out of the house. The fact that his animagus form was one that closely resembled the dog did help.

Tonks' sighed as she finished the glass of wine she had poured herself, waiting for her husband to come home. That was another thing that was starting to worry her. She had a sneaking suspicion that Ludwig had been covering the stresses in his life by drinking. She couldn't even remember the last time she hadn't seen Ludwig go more than a day without imbibing an excessive amount of alcohol.

She loved Ludwig with all of her heart, but she couldn't bear that he was in distress, and was hiding it from her, with alcoholism of all things. The fact that Ludwig was troubled made her heart break, as he was the strongest person that she had ever known! She shook her head, and noticed that Damien's ears had perked up.

"Oh, what's the matter now?" Tonks asked with a slight laugh, as the dog barked. Suddenly, Tonks heard the front door open.

"Dora, I'm home," came the voice of Ludwig, and Tonks could swear that she heard a muttered, "finally."

"Luddie!" Tonks said, going to meet him. When she saw him though, he looked simply _awful._ Tonks gasped, and exclaimed, "Oh my God! What happened to you?"

"Got into a fight with a bunch of people that didn't want to," Ludwig said, pecking Tonks on the lips, before taking his tattered outer robe off, and giving it a tired look.

"What were you doing?" Tonks asked, taking her husband's arm, and leading him to the sofa.

"To tell you the truth I really can't remember," Ludwig responded, placing one of his hands over his eyes, "I'm just so burnt out that I can't tell which way is up anymore."

"Oh, Luddie," Tonks said with a sigh, running her hand through his long untamed black hair, "You really should think about taking some time off."

"And say what 'Dora?" Ludwig responded with a snap, "'I'm sorry I can't take the stress of my job, can you take some pity on me and give me a few weeks off?' As if they'd let me."

"_Ludwig_," Tonks exclaimed, slightly exasperated, "You have said countless times, you are their _best_ agent. I'm sure if you told them the toll the job was placing on you, they'd let you have a few weeks off!"

Ludwig lowered his hand off of his face, and turned his head to look at Tonks, who noticed the gash on his face that stuck out sharply against his green eyes. His face also seemed to be littered with many older scars, including a jagged one that was above his eye, and seemed to continue down onto his cheek. Seeing her husband's true face caused Tonks to jump lightly in shock. It truly confirmed for her just how worn out Ludwig was, as he didn't even have the energy to hold an Metamorphmagus transformation.

"Oh, honey," Tonks sighed, caressing her husband's cheek, "You can't keep going on like this. Even superheroes need a break every so often."

"I love you," Ludwig responded, looking at his wife in adoration.

"Me too," Tonks responded, kissing her husband on his forehead, "Now budge up! You need to take a shower then we are going to have a fantastic dinner!"

-

Tonks looked at her desk in exasperation. It had been two weeks since she had demanded that Luddie ask for time off, and she hadn't seen her husband since that night. In the meantime, more and more corruption was discovered in the offices of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. The scandal kept on growing, for that was far from the end of it.

Tonks looked at the folder in front of her and couldn't believe what she was reading. Somehow, for some reason, just about every lead that they had on the case was leading to people that were directly implicated in dealings with Voldemort. Even worse, in addition to these ties, there was just this nagging feeling that the Yellow Brick Road went even farther from there, although the path did seem to end with just that. Ties.

Suddenly Tonks heard a knock on her door, and looked up just in time to see a man in black robes with a Ministry crest on his breast enter.

"Yes?" Tonks asked, the man seemed oddly familiar.

"You're the wife of Special Agent Third Class Ludwig Waechter, correct?" when Tonks nodded in the affirmative with a building sense of dread coming over her the (now obvious) Unspeakable continued, "I'm an Agent with the Department of Mysteries, your presence is requested immediately in Level Nine concerning your husband."

"What's going on?" Tonks asked, immediately standing up, grabbing her outer robe and ensuring her wand was attached to her arm. The Unspeakable shook his head.

"Not here," he responded, taking a hold of her arm suddenly. Before Tonks could reply she felt a hook on her navel as a port key took a hold of her. Instantly she found herself in a hospital ward that she remembered being in a few years ago.

"What's going on?" Tonks demanded from the Unspeakable once again, this time in a slightly worried voice.

"Follow me please," the Unspeakable said, causing Tonks to sigh in exasperation. Just what in the nine layers of Hell was going on? The Unspeakable led her till they were outside a door that had another Unspeakable posted at it with what looked like a staff in his hand. The Unspeakable leading Tonks turned and started to speak to her again, "Before we go any further, let me assure you that he is going to make a full recovery."

Tonks' heart almost came to a full and complete stop.

"WHAT!"

"Follow me," the Unspeakable said, opening the door to the room, and stood aside for Tonks to enter. When she did, she almost collapsed on the spot.

Ludwig was laying in the bed in a sort of suspended animation, obviously the victim of a massive magical attack.

"As you can tell Mrs. Waechter your husband is hurt," the Unspeakable said, before adding on quite unnecessarily, "Bad."

"I can tell," Tonks said under her breath.

"As you know, your husband is a Metamorphmagus," the Unspeakable continued, pulling a piece of paper out of a file that had appeared in his hands, "And he has reverted to his natural form due to his injuries."

The Unspeakable handed the paper to Tonks, and on it she saw Ludwig's legal picture that he had to have registered with the Ministry because he was a Metamorphmagus. It showed Ludwig with blonde hair and a slightly tanned complexion. Looking over at her husband who was laying on the bed she saw that indeed he matched the picture.

Tonks, with tears forming in her eyes, asked, "What happened?"

"Without going into specifics, he was following a lead on an investigation that we were working on," the Unspeakable replied, "And this is how we found him earlier this morning. You have been granted access to the Department of Mysteries medical center while your husband is here. Just use this port key to come directly to this room."

He handed Tonks a tattered book, before excusing himself. Tonks sighed, and sat down in the chair that was next to the bed. What the hell happened? Even Ludwig would never get himself into something like this! Sure, he had been the victim of many close calls throughout the years, but he always managed to think of something before he got in to deep…and ended up like this.

'Wait a second,' Tonks thought to herself, looking at the photo of Ludwig that the Unspeakable had handed to her. Yes, blonde hair…but her husband's hair wasn't naturally blonde…but that meant…

"I hate you Luddie," Tonks said with an amused, but slightly angered, laugh. She stood up quite briskly, taking one last look at the man that was lying in bed, once again reveling in the mysteries that always seemed to surround themselves around her husband.

Never the less, she was going to kill that man the next time she saw him.

-

"**The Beginning of the End"**

Three days later, she was visited by Ludwig's adoptive father, Patrick. She smiled tightly when he entered, for she had this sneaking suspicion that he knew _something_ about where her husband was, and just exactly what was going on.

"Wotcher Patrick," Tonks said, leading the man into the kitchen.

"Evening," Patrick responded, looking around the kitchen, "You seem to be managing well…considering."

"Yeah, well," Tonks responded, tightening her grip on the bottle of wine she was taking out of the cupboard, trying to remember exactly how Ludwig said it was supposed to be used, "I have a job to do myself, can't mope around all the time."

"But Tonks, he's your husband!" Patrick responded, seeming perplexed by Tonks' attitude.

"Why are you here Patrick?" Tonks replied, opening the wine bottle with her wand.

"I just wanted to see why you haven't been back to see your husband," Patrick responded, looking slightly angry.

"Oh cut the crap Patrick," Tonks responded, pouring some of the wine into the glass, holding it almost up to her lips, "I know for a fact that isn't your son, _my husband_ in that ward."

"What are you talking about-" Patrick started to say before Tonks threw the wine at Patrick, "What was that for!"

"A gift from Ludwig," Tonks replied, walking over to Patrick and pushing him down onto a chair, "If you remember correctly he has a talent for coming up with different kinds of truth potions, and ways to implement them?"

Patrick nodded, a look of horror spreading across his face. Tonks continued, "Well, this one just happens to be one that works by seeping it's way into your skin. Handy isn't it?"

The look of horror only grew larger, before Patrick's body jolted and he was suddenly quite relaxed in the chair.

"Now," Tonks said, looking down at her father in law, "Where is Ludwig?"

"Right behind you," Patrick responded. Tonks spun around and came face to face with her _darling_ husband.

"LUDWIG!" Tonks screamed, "You have no idea how…you…you…you have no idea how glad I am you're okay!"

Tonks dissolved against her husband's chest, crying her eyes out, "Do you have any idea how horrible it was to see that body in that ward?"

"I know Dora, I know," Ludwig responded, kissing the top of his wife's pink hair. Tonks heard him sigh, "But unfortunately, I'm afraid I can't stay."

"Why?" Tonks asked, looking up at her husband, who had a remorseful look on his tanned face.

"Things are getting bad Dora," Ludwig responded, "So bad, I had to petty much fake my death."

Tonks and Ludwig went into their living room, leaving a slightly sedated Patrick in the kitchen.

"When I went into the Department seventeen days ago, we had a huge lead on the source of the corruption," Ludwig said as he took a seat across from Tonks, "So I automatically volunteered to go, thinking as soon as I got back enough would have been accomplished to request some time off."

Here he sighed, Tonks could tell he was frustrated.

"Unfortunately, the mission went to shit," Ludwig went on, "Turns out, the corruption had spread itself even into the Department of Mysteries, and I was an amazingly marked man. I was able to escape from the set up, but not before I had my right leg broken and gotten knocked in the head. You know the problems that I have with those injuries, so as you may guess I was in a bad way when I escaped. Fortunately my boss was able to find out about the set up right after I left, so he was able to find me."

"It was then that it was decided that I needed to disappear from the underworld scene, as my tactics were to well known, and I had a target placed on my head the size of Dumbledore's beard."

Tonks laughed despite herself, she was starting to connect some dots in her head as he husband went on.

"So a double of my body was made, and deposited into a river bank, where it was discovered four days ago," Ludwig said, rubbing his hand in irritation above his eyebrows, "In the meantime I've been laying low in a safe house only known to me recovering from my injuries, and allowing the world to believe that I was in serious condition at the Level Nine Ward."

Ludwig sighed again, "I'm sorry for having to put you threw that, but it was necessary. The underworld MUST believe that I am dead for this investigation to continue. Otherwise, more and more dead ends and traps are going to open themselves up."

"But why?" Tonks asked, not liking that her husband had to go into hiding.

"I'm sorry, but even though you're my wife I can't tell you that," Ludwig responded, looking frustrated, "However, my bosses felt sorry for me, so they've decided to cut me a break, and are extended an offer to you."

"What is it?" Tonks asked, suddenly feeling that she really did not want to know.

"How do feel about living in Germany?"

Life was suddenly about to become even more hectic.

**END CHAPTER.**

**A/n:** "Megalomania" by Muse and "The Beginning of the End" by H.I.M. for this chapter. "Interlude" by My Chemical Romance for the last chapter. I would recommend paying attention to these 'sub-titles' for the chapters. Just saying…

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, for I know I did. Thanks for all the reviews for the last chapter. Now, please, if you would, review this one!

Thanks once again!


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